Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 717 - 363: Xu Nuo (Part 2)

The two of them didn’t say much and just started eating.

Xu Nuo still had 5 fermented rice with steamed buns left. He handed three of them to Shi Dadan and used the remaining two to make sandwiches with pickled tofu for one and cabbage, beans, and braised meat for the other.

Xu Nuo didn’t even touch Shi Dadan’s three boxed lunches; he couldn’t finish his own food.

Compared to Xu Nuo’s careful eating, Shi Dadan ate more roughly. He didn’t need to put anything in the buns, just ate a bite of bun and a bite of food, mixing it all in his mouth.

There was no issue of pairing; he ate everything and loved everything, not picky at all. Whether it was fermented rice with steamed buns or black corn meal cakes, it was all welcome.

At the end, Shi Dadan used the last bit of soup in the lunchbox to sweep the plate, dipping the last fermented rice bun clean into the soup. The lunchbox was as clean as if it had been scrubbed, and he finished with two apples.

Qin Huai stood by and watched the whole process, thinking it was truly an exhilarating meal. Shi Dadan was the main eater while Xu Nuo accompanied him.

At that moment, Qin Huai thought that compared to a real Dang Kang, Ouyang and Luoluo weren’t particularly good eaters. If Shi Dadan really put his strength into eating 26 buns, Ouyang and Luoluo would probably not be able to compete.

After filling his stomach, Shi Dadan might have felt a bit dizzy from the carbs. He sat silently in the chair for a while, digesting, and then suddenly remembered something. He grabbed his small purse off the ground, pulled out a wad of cash and a few scattered cigarettes.

"This is the salary I got yesterday. I forgot to give it to you. It’s all here." Shi Dadan counted the money, but since he couldn’t figure it out, he simply stopped counting. "I don’t know how much is left after buying meal tickets. There should be quite a bit. I remember the captain said there was some... allowance."

Xu Nuo was not polite. He took the money and tickets, counted them, and then put them into his own little box for keeping such things. Qin Huai glanced over and saw a thick wad of money in the small box.

"Aren’t you going to keep some for yourself? The team’s salary is quite high, especially now that you’re permanent. Aside from eating, don’t you have any other hobbies? Like your clothes, these are the uniforms from two years ago, weren’t new ones given last year? Why aren’t you wearing those?"

Shi Dadan chuckled: "This set is comfortable to wear."

After saying this, Shi Dadan cautiously glanced outside. "Mr. Xu is probably coming back. I’d better leave first."

Xu Nuo sighed helplessly, got up, and handed two pieces of biscuits to Shi Dadan: "Did you hear some rumors again, saying we’re a pair of dummies and wastrels, and that whenever my father sees us together, his blood pressure rises with frustration. Mr. Xu, wise for a lifetime, has an excellent and virtuous eldest son, yet his youngest son is such a disappointment, along with a foolish relative who’s come to join him."

"Nope." Shi Dadan answered honestly, "I have to drive every day. Brother Chen and Brother Liu, who used to take me around, like to talk, but today I’m on my own and no one’s said anything to me."

"I just thought that now that the meal’s done, it’s time to leave. I still have to drive early tomorrow morning; the captain said to get good rest and sleep early before heading out."

After saying this, Shi Dadan took the two biscuits Xu Nuo had given him, stuffed them into his mouth, and chewed.

Xu Nuo: ...

Xu Nuo was at a loss for words.

"But tomorrow I’m delivering for the meat union factory, going out to the countryside. Didn’t you say you wanted crabs? I can catch some for you from the stream there."

Xu Nuo: ?

"Why catch, instead of buying?"

"The crabs I catch are better than the ones the villagers do." Shi Dadan said matter-of-factly, "If you just want crabs, I’ll bring a basket. If you want fish, I’ll bring a bucket too."

"Forget it, my dad isn’t coming back this early. Let me just take you back first." Xu Nuo said, getting up to lead Shi Dadan out, who obediently followed.

Qin Huai noticed that when they left and shut the door, the child from the neighboring family peeked out with curiosity and then shouted inside, "Mom, the two Brother Xus have finished eating. Should I go to the factory to call Uncle Xu back?"

Xu Nuo and Shi Dadan went downstairs and walked away from the residential area. Not until they were somewhere private did Xu Nuo slowly speak: "My dad doesn’t dislike you."

"He thinks you’re a good person, not very smart, but genuine and reliable. He thinks it’s better I spend time with you than with unreliable friends."

"Lately, my parents have been coming back late because the factory is busy, and maybe a little because they don’t want to see us eating together. Seeing that food makes him think I’m a wastrel, angering him."

"Plus, you giving me all your salary makes him think I’m tricking an honest person. Every time he sees you eating at our house, he feels like his son is scamming an innocent person."

"I know Mr. Xu doesn’t dislike me." Shi Dadan nodded, seeing Xu Nuo’s disbelief, he nodded again with emphasis, "I really know."

"Though I’m not as smart as you, only being able to write my name, I can’t manage people or study... there’s no way I could go to college like you, but I can sense it."

"The manager doesn’t dislike me. He believes I saved your life, which is why he tells others I’m your family and arranged work for me after teaching me to drive."

"The captain likes me too, he doesn’t mind I’m dumb and takes pains every day to teach me how to repair cars, hoping I’ll become officially certified soon."

"Brother Chen and Brother Liu don’t dislike me either. Since they know I’m not talkative, they like to talk to me. Of course, I don’t understand much of what they say."

"Yeah, I know you think I’m not handling this transformation well, but I don’t know how to do it. Coming to the human world, it’s different than what the elders said. Sometimes I wonder if their method really works for this, but I can’t figure it out either." Shi Dadan looked confused, "You know, we Dang Kangs rarely think things through."

"The current human world is indeed different from before." Xu Nuo nodded, "If you had come a hundred years earlier, maybe the method your elders said would work, but now... I even failed my own transformation last time, there’s nothing I can teach you."

With that, the two spirits surnamed Xu both sighed deeply.

"You’re so much smarter than me; how could you fail your transformation?" Shi Dadan was puzzled.

Xu Nuo: "...Maybe because I’m not as smart as I thought... or perhaps my abilities are limited, or maybe I just like to meddle too much."

"So you failed your transformation because you meddled too much?" Shi Dadan’s eyes widened with understanding and made a mental note, "Then I shouldn’t be like you. I think things are pretty good right now. Although I still don’t fully understand humans, everyone else seems not to mind."

"No matter what I say or do, or don’t say, people think it’s normal. They say something like ’fools have their own luck.’"

"Xu Nuo, those elementary textbooks you gave me are really too hard. I can’t understand anything after the third grade level. Can’t I just not study?" Shi Dadan pleaded, his expression sincerely pleading with, ’trust me, I’m allergic to reading.’

He might as well carve ’I’m a dunce’ right on his forehead.

"Then what about car repairs...?"

"I’ll follow and learn from the captain on car repairs, that’s something I do know. To be a good driver with the team, not only must I be able to drive, I must know how to repair as well. Car repairs don’t require reading, so I can learn this."

"Besides, I really like driving."

Xu Nuo’s eyes lit up: "So you’ve found your interest?"

"Every time I deliver to other factories, their food is fantastic. I’m too shy to eat there since I don’t know them well, I’m afraid of making mistakes by saying or doing too much, but they always offer me wheat buns, actual white wheat buns!"

"I love buns the most!"

Xu Nuo: ...

"Alright, alright, I get it. You don’t just love buns, you also love dumplings, love white rice. Anytime there’s refined grain staples, you love it. That time you ate 26 buns, it’s now legendary at the textile mill, known by everyone." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Last month I had a bun in Hangzhou made with crab roe and sea cucumber, been trying to replicate it ever since, though we don’t have sea cucumber at home, so it’s just crab roe."

"If you’re back early tomorrow, catch some crabs for me, ones with fat and juicy crab roe."

"You’re off the day after tomorrow, right? I’ll make you crab roe pork buns, not the soupy kind."

Qin Huai: ???

Crab roe pork buns, not soupy ones.

What kind of combination is that, Xu Nuo? Your culinary ideas are quite out there!